For my birthday, about a month ago, another car crashed into the back of our car while I waited to turn right into our local video store, my car was stationary at the time. The main reason that this happened was because the red car which was directly behind me at the time ducked into the left hand lane at the very last minute making it absolutely impossible for the grey car (the one that crashed into me) to see me in good time. I won’t go into the details of my last month – thankfully nobody was hurt, but I have to say it did cause a lot of inconvenience for me and my family.

This incident has made me think a little, or maybe a lot…

First up it has greatly increased my awareness of the distance between my vehicle and another vehicle. Since the accident I often look behind me and worry about whether that car behind me is going to slow down in time and I am more cautious with my driving, with the distance between me and the car in front of me.

It has also made me think about the impatience that most of us have in us these days, which shows through especially when we are driving. We hurry up to make it through that light that is about to turn red, we follow too closely behind another person, we overtake when we really shouldn’t – and for what? To gain a few seconds, or minutes maybe, so we can get to our destination slightly quicker. When I think about it it seems so selfish to risk the lives of not only ourself, but of others by this dangerous driving. To me, thinking about it, it doesn’t make any sense at all. So the next time you drive have a think about how fast you are driving, have a think about whether you have left enough distance between you and the car in front of you, think about stopping at that orange light rather than speeding up to make it through. Consider both your own life and those around you as valuable and not to be messed with.